Restate my assumptions

The PTQ in Seattle was a pretty good day if we're not talking about Magic. The suits were incredible, and the effort even more so as people were scrambling for clothing parts like they were scrambling for Constructed cards.

Magic-wise, I had a deck that I thought wanted to play White for Luminarch Ascension and good White guys, and I decided to pair it with Green for Allies and Turntimber Ranger to go with a Kazandu Blademaster and double Ondu Cleric. I considered Blue if I wanted to slow it down and really focus on getting Luminarch Ascension online, and then there was Red and Black for an extra piece of removal, but I stuck with what I thought mattered in the format and went with cheap beaters. I should post the pool as a MODO file so you can try out building it.

I started out 2-0, but then lost the next match in three and the following match in three also to knock me out. In the deciding matches, I got stuck on mana for key spells in my hand and then proceeded to get beat down. I was pretty sure my hands were keepable, but it sucks so much for me to blame a match on mana screw. A couple of people that I have relayed this sentiment to have said that while they agree using mana screw as an excuse for losing is a trap for getting better, it is a valid reason that you can lose because there were not lands at the top of your deck. I could get over this if I were a much more solid player.

The thing is, I haven't been doing great on MODO either in Limited. I think I overvalue White too much, as I don't remember the last time I didn't play it, nor do I remember the last time I started Red in a Sealed deck. I should try something different, or just start looking at the decks that beat me and re-evaluate what cards/strategies matter.

I want to start playing Constructed, but MODO won't pay out Zen for their 2-man queues yet. I liquidated a ton of M10 planeswalkers and things that are valuable but probably shouldn't be, like Lotus Cobra and Sorin Markov, so I can actually get the lands for the Jund deck. But the price on M10 makes it not worth it to grind 2-man queues yet. States is coming up in a little over a month, so I'd like to start evaluating if there are good decks that can beat Jund cascade. (I think I'd agree that there are decks that can beat Jund, but they suck against other decks.)